While it is not the first medium ever to reproduce violence for entertainment, television has certainly been the most notorious. However, television stations "do not air violence because they want to. They air it because that is what sells. The blame is upon ourselves for the large volume of violence, since they are merely responding to what we want" (Kim). This love for violence has filtered into nearly every television show aired currently. Virtually every television station airs shows, either live action or animated, that involve the characters fighting, arguing, or just acting in a malevolent way towards something or somebody else. The news always carries stories of what crimes have been committed during the day, daytime talk shows and soap operas often involve fighting and conflict, and even children's television is starting to take a more serious,…
How Does Television Violence Affect Children's Behavior Does television promote violence and crime among children? Although most people look at television as an entertaining and educational way to spend time, some people think there is too much violence in television and that is influencing our young into becoming aggressive in nature and to tolerate violence.…
Therefore, the media should reduce the amount of violence that is in children television shows. Rethinking the plots and making shows more educational but fun at the same would leave a more positive affect on the young children watching. The violent media displayed to kids can influence the decisions they make in everyday life. According to the American Psychological Association, “Violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children teens who watch these programs”(APA,249). In other words, the American Psychological Association believes that these violent programs have a high influence on children and young teens. These aggressive behaviors exhibited by young children can cause bodily harm and also emotional harm for children. Once a child develops a pattern of aggressive behavior caused by TV Violence, it is a very process to reverse or get rid of this…
More than 1,000 studies on the effects of television and film violence have been done over the past 40 years and the majority of these studies have the same conclusion: television and film violence leads to real-world violence (United States 2). The average 7th grader watches about 4 hours of television per day, and 60% of those shows containg some violence (United States 4). A prime source of these violent images is TV news, which happens to be America 's number one sourse of news and information (Steyer 73). Most local television newscasts are dominated by killings, assaults, kidnappings, terrorist attacks, and other stories designed to provoke a strong emotional reaction from viewers (Steyer 73). In the recent years, Hollywood 's growing taste for grotesque, graphic fare has upped the stakes, from Friday the 13th to Creepshaw and Scream (Steyer 73). Even though these movies are not meant for small kids, it is a fact that young children are often regularly exposed to them in the company of unthinking par-…
Since the 1920’s, when the first television was invented, to the 1980’s, when the internet was created, the media has developed and became a significant component of our everyday lives. Everywhere we go we are surrounded by televisions, billboards, computer screens, magazines and newspapers. The media has a massive influence on society as a whole, but teens are impacted the most. Since human behavior is influenced by what an individual sees, the effect is greater at a younger age. Present day media has a detrimental effect on teenagers, especially pertaining to violence, sex, and the influence of alcohol and drugs. How many movies and cartoons on the television show that violence is okay, that violence resolves problems, that violence is funny? In 1952, the U.S. Senate held hearings to determine if media violence contributes to adolescent aggression. The answer now is clear: It can (Children). The average child sees 12,000 violent acts on television annually, including many depictions of murder and rape (Impacts). Studies show what exposure to watching too much television increases the risk that a child will be aggressive (James). In shows, perpetrators go unpunished 73% of the time (Media). Parents of young children need to understand that exposing their children to PG-13 and R-rated movies that contain a lot of violence can also be quite scary and produce anxiety (Children). Music is another huge problem involving the influence of sex. Lyrics in the past years have become more of a reference to sex, drugs, suicide, sexually transmitted diseases, ECT (Media). Teens struggling with any of those problems will be attracted to the music that expresses their feelings. It is not just song lyrics that can influence teens; it is also the music videos. A lot of music videos show inappropriate behaviors and false stereotypes. More than half of the music videos contain violence that is often…
Many movies, television shows, music songs, and video games are filled with violence: murder scenes, nonstop profanity, rape and torture scenarios. By placing scenes like these in the movies for the children and teenagers to see, the media is causing them to become more violent than it already is. What has our society come to these days? Everywhere we look, violence is present; in the streets, back alleys, schools, and even at home. Even if one might be a pacifist, violence will keep its way into our homes through the television. Many parents these days are busy with their work, and sometimes it is hard to keep track what their children do. They are working singles or couples who must rely on others for the parenting and raising their children. Even baby sitters use television as the easiest source of entertainment for the children. Since every family has televisions and the children play video games almost every day, truly the media affects the children. The average hours of American youth watching television is about four hours, which means children spend more time watching television than in any other activity, except sleep, after school. So, parents should control the television that children watch. They need to be aware that media violence affects in the real world.…
Violence has become a major part of television shows increasing regularly. Many may think that it is only the shows that get the warning “viewer discretion is advised” are bad influences on people but I believe that all shows can have a negative influence. For example, in the 90’s cartoon show Spiderman, all he ever did was tie villains up with his webs. In today’s cartoon he hits them and draws blood when fighting the villains. As innocent as cartoon shows may seem I have seen the increase in violence in these shows. Children, especially young, are not ready to distinguish right from wrong so when their favorite action hero is beating up a bad guy, therefore kids get the impression that it is all right to do the same. Witnessing repeated violent acts can lead to desensitization and lack of empathy for human…
Experts even suggest that the evidence linking media violence to aggressive behavior is stronger than the evidence linking smoking to lung cancer (Gentile). In the United States an average of 20-25 violent acts are shown in children's television programs each hour (Media Wise). Violence (homicide, suicide, and trauma) is the leading cause of death for children, adolescents and young adults, more prevalent than disease, cancer or congenital disorders (Youth Violence Facts at a Glance 2). In fact, six prominent medical groups (American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association) warn of these effects of media violence on children: Children will increase anti-social and aggressive behavior, become less sensitive to violence and those who suffer from violence, children may view the world as violent and mean, become more fearful of being a victim of violence, children may desire to see more violence in entertainment and real life, and children will view violence as an acceptable way to settle conflicts (National Institute on Media and the Family). While most adults realize that media violence is fabricated, children are more vulnerable. Preschoolers cannot distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy. Children who identify with aggressive heroes are more likely to be more aggressive. They learn that violence is effective, courageous, socially acceptable and rewarded, and they get caught in the aggression cycle. Aggressive children prefer aggressive programming (Medscape). These…
Television violence affects all who watch it, but its biggest effect is on children. Children’s minds are like a blank page, and television is writing violence on that page. Television violence is one of the causes of aggression and violent behavior in children. This problem is not new, but in recent years it has gotten worse. In the last few years, violence in television programs has increased greatly. A study in 2000-2001 compared to a study in 1998-1999 showed violence is, in fact, on the rise. Verbal violence and coarse language alone increased by a staggering 78% (Lavers). How did violence become so prevalent on television? Sadly, violence is what people want to see; it sells. Society has slowly put its guard down allowing violence to creep in. Now we are faced with this detrimental situation which has been created.…
The relationship between media violence and its harmful effects on children has been strongly supported. What exactly is media violence? Critics of television violence research note that media violence experts measure television violence differently. George Gerbner of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communication measures most acts of violence equally, whether accidental or intentional. The National Coalition on Television Violence weighs violence so a minor act like shoving counts as one-third of an act of violence while murder accounts for one and two-thirds act of violence. In 1950, 10% of American homes had a television and by 1960 that percentage had grown to 90%. Today 99% of American homes have a television set and 54% of U.S children have a television set in their bedrooms. So the question is “Is Media Violence Harmful to Our Children?” W. James Potter, from – On Media Violence (Sage, 1999) believes it is. The opposition on the other hand Jib Fowles, from “The Case of Television Violence (Sage, 1999) does not. My opinion is that it does. I will present evidence that media violence does harm our children.…
Let’s take a look at some of the statistics of television for us to understand a little more about why TV is blamed for bad behavior in youth and adults. According to Nationmaster.com 98.5 percent of homes in the United States have at least one TV with ninety percent having at least two televisions and eighty-seven percent of homes have at the least a DVD player or VCR. (Nationmaster) With so many homes having TV’s, television has become a debatable issue as many researchers and psychologist question the influence of programs on the attitudes and behavior of today’s youth. According to psychological researches done on youths, violence on television can have a negative impact on the youth. It is estimated that by the time a child starts high school that child will have viewed 8,000 to 10,000 acts of violence whether it be from watching cartoons or a drama crime show. (Villani)…
We live in a society where violence is meticulously and silently engraining in our daily lives. As time progresses, the entertaining media that children and adolescents have access to everyday such as movies, commercials, TV shows, children’s cartoons, video games, toys, etc. become more and more violent. Media violence negatively affects the behavior of those exposed to it, especially children and teenagers who experience violent media on an everyday basis. With the new generations being born and raised in a society where violence is widely accepted and expressed, children are showing violent behavior in earlier stages of life, which often begins with verbal threats or minor incidents, but over time it can involve physical harm. Violent behavior is very damaging, both physically and emotionally and includes physical, verbal, or sexual abuse.…
Violent images on television, as well as in the movies, have inspired people to set spouses on fire in their beds, lie down in the middle of highways, extort money by placing bombs in airplanes, rape, steal, murder, and commit numerous other shootings and assaults. Over 1,000 case studies have proven that media violence can have negative affects on children as well. It increases aggressiveness and anti-social behavior, makes them less sensitive to violence and to victims of violence, and it increases their appetite for more violence in entertainment and in real life. Media violence is especially damaging to young children, because they cannot tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Violent images on television and in movies may seem real to these children and sometimes viewing these images can even traumatize them.…
Television and cable and satellite are great inventions, but humans tend to misuse them. On TV, there is barely any restriction on what can be diffused. As a matter of fact, violence, crime and nudity are the most frequent themes shown on TV. An average American child will see 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on TV by age 18, said the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Children imitate the violence they see on TV. Children under age eight cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy, making them more vulnerable to learning from and adopting as reality the violence they see on TV(American Academy of Pediatrics). Indeed these enormous amount of hours watching TV when at home leads to changes not only in eating habits and health, but also on one’s psychology and eventually the impact on the social life.…
Television viewing is a major activity and influence on children and adolescents. People complain that certain TV shows are having negative effects on their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) both feel that TV does influence the behavior of children as young as one year old. From their studies, the AACAP states, “Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see” (as cited in Wilcox, 2004) This speaks to the impressionable mindsets of young children, who are still learning control of their minds and bodies, and are likely to mimic what they see, as it seems quite normal to them. Everything that children see or hear in the media early on in their lives affects them in some way. Violence, sexuality, race and gender stereotypes, drug and alcohol abuse are common themes of television programs. The Academy of Pediatrics says “More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior…